Billy Bob Thornton Had A Special Request Concerning Kaley Cuoco on TBBT

Billy Bob Thornton was arguably the most surprising star to make a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory. While the popular sitcom attracted plenty of cameos during its 12-year run, snagging one of the stars of films such as Armageddon and Bad Santa had to be its biggest coup.

And it turns out that what attracted him most to appearing on TBBT was the chance to work alongside Kayley Cuoco.

In fact, before joining the show, Thornton asked if he could play a love interest for Sheldon and Leonard's neighbour. And while that didn't quite happen, he did get his wish.

He didn't exactly get to play a love interest of Penny's, but he did land a role as a doctor who came to her door 'wanting to start a romantic relationship' after misreading the signs when she visited his office.

Showrunner Steve Molaro told the Hollywood Reporter how the idea for the misunderstanding came about.

'The idea of Penny taking off her engagement ring at work had been floating around for a while.' He said. It was revealed during the show that she was doing it to boost sales - much to the chagrin of her fiancé Leonard'.

Once Thornton was booked, the idea of him playing 'this socially awkward, likeable doctor who doesn't quite know how to handle Penny's flirtations with him' was born. Molaro continued. 'We had this basic idea and we went to Billy and his people ran it by them. Billy was on the phone and he thought it was a really funny idea and he was into it.

While Thornton's original idea was for his character to be 'a guy who stole Penny', anyone who saw the episode will agree that such a storyline would have been nowhere near as good as what actually hit our screens.

Thornton played the part beautifully, and the scene in which he meets Sheldon on the stairs is perfectly written and acted.

And by all accounts, Thornton was always open to another appearance, but his schedule never allowed it. Nevertheless, we were treated to a great performance by a great actor in a bizarre but hugely popular show.

Source: Hollywood Reporter.